


Mimi

by Origami_Roses



Category: Valdemar - Mercedes Lackey, White Gryphon - Fandom
Genre: Mage Wars, Magic Gone Wrong, Other, white gryphon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-03-28 09:55:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13901577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Origami_Roses/pseuds/Origami_Roses
Summary: A little ficlet about some of the weirdness in the wilds around White Gryphon. Set several years after the Mage Storms, Takes place well after Silver Gryphon, but assumes that the recovery of magic is slow, and availability of magic power has not progressed greatly beyond the level seen in The Silver Gryphon.





	1. Storm

*CRASH*  
*CRACK*  
*CRASH*

....ooooouuuch.....

_Bird-thing?_  
_Bird Thing? Good Bird Thing?_

Pain! Fear! Enemy? PainRageAttack!  
  
_Bird-thing? Good bird-thing why not good? Hurt/fear/pain you?_

~darkness~

\----***----***----

Andrith sighed as he pored over the map before him. It had been two days since fierce storms had broken over the area, making it difficult to travel, and essentially grounding the gryphon wings. Three scouts caught by the sudden storms had straggled in, weary and bedraggled. One paired team was sheltering in place - the human partner having broken her ankle - but their location and condition was known. That left only Ordugan unaccounted for. Andrith sighed again.  


The mage wars that had turned the world upside down had scattered magic, and even after three generations, there was little to work with. The great works of the past were legend, despite there being some few who still remembered the times of Great Magic. The mages had learned to work with what there was, and were clever in how they worked together, finding ways around problems. But the wilds around White Gryphon were still filled with the unknown, unpredictable and dangerous. Taken all together, seeking one lone gryphon, who may have been blown far off course, would be nearly impossible in this storm. This out-of-season, unpredicted monsoon. With its sudden ferocity, it could almost be a mage-born storm out of some old tale...  


Andrith paused to examine that thought. Could it be? Surely not... Weather working on that scale would be outrageously difficult. Impossible. And yet...  


Better safe than sorry he decided. Best seek out Whitewing. She always had good advice. With a grunt of effort, Andrith heaved himself up, cursing the weather that kept them grounded, the age that kept him from actively helping, and his inability to affect either.  


The sodden blast of wind as he opened the door nearly changed Andrith's mind. Certainty of finding a nice hot drink and something tasty when he reached Whitewing's dwelling was all that got him to pull himself through the downpour.  


Whitewing was, unexpectedly, NOT at home. Her sister, Windsong, let him in, and threw a blanket over him to prevent a chill while he dried off. Andrith was not surprised to find Kass resting before the fire. The kyree had taken a bad tumble over one of the terraces when a playful gryphon chick had accidentally hit him across the face with a wing; Windsong was a Healer, and specialized in non-humans. That Kass's heavily pregnant mate, Rhyrr, had joined him was a bit surprising. Concerned, Andrith asked what was wrong that she would climb three terrace levels in the storm to see the Healer.  


Rhyrr sniffed in disdain. _*Not for Healer. The pups come tonight. It is good for their father to be near.*_  


Andrith grinned, fluffing his feathers to finish drying and thanked Windsong for the bowl of hot tea she brought.  


"You're unusually serious, Andrith. I doubt it's just this weather making your joints ache again."  


"I need to conssult with Whitewing. Will sshe be back ssoon, or sshould I rrrisk my poor aching boness to sseek herrr out?" Andrith asked, grinning at her.  


"She should be back in a short time." Windsong's eyes grew momentarily distant as she reached out to her twin. "Hmm.. or maybe not. She's fairly intent on what they're doing right now. You may as well wait here, though. Whatever the mage circle is working on, they won't welcome interruptions."  


"Sshe iss with the otherrr magess, then. Do you know what they are worrrking on?" Andrith asked.  


"Only vaguely. When I touched her thoughts just now, I caught something about the storm's eye - whatever that means."  


"The ssstorm has eyesss!? Like it can SSSEE??" Andrith asked in some alarm, his earlier concern about a mage-born storm leaping to the fore.  


Windsong laughed. "I don't think so. Whitewing's thoughts didn't imply such a thing. Although," she added more seriously, "the storm does seem to have guidance of some sort, so... I really don't know." The ensuing silence hung heavily until Kass sneezed, making Andrith and Windsong jump.  


Rhyrr fidgeted, shifting position. _*Healer, may I have some water? The pups will come very soon, and I cannot get up for a drink.*_  


Windsong rose, pushing thoughts of the storm aside in favor of more immediate needs.  


Andrith was left to his own thoughts. Wondering. Worrying.


	2. Bird-Thing

_bird-thing?_

_...Bird Thing?_

_... Bird Thing hurt?  
_

_...bird-thing....?_

Ordigan opened his eyes. The strange piping voice of his fever-dreams did not fade.

_bird-thing wake! Good bird-thing? ... bird-thing wish eat?_

Pain erupted across his back as Ordigan turned is head to look for the voice, and he cried out involuntarily.

_bird-thing hurt! not move bird-thing! not noise bird-thing! Hurt/Fear/Bad come if noise. not noise, good bird-thing. not noise._

Still whining faintly, Ordigan forced himself to be still. The warning was clear enough, if oddly phrased. He relaxed as much as he could, enjoying the warmth of the sunlight filtering through the leaves. 

Leaves?

Sunlight?

Memory returned: Scouting patrol over the jungle. A sudden gust of wind causing him to slip sideways. A bright flash of pain....nothing. Had he been struck by lightning? Where was he? Who was talking to him? He could hear... could he be heard? Yes, obviously. The voice had warned him to silence.

"Who arrre you?" he whispered.

No response. Was the voice gone? Only a dream after all? Was he truly alone and hallucinating? Could he move at all? Carefully he tried flexing his toes. They seemed to move. He could feel grass, the rub of a stone or branch... good. Ok. Fingers also seemed to move, clumsily, but responding. Wings? One was trapped under his body, and he was increasingly aware of the discomfort. The other one... He began stretching the upper wing.

_NO! bird-thing NOT MOVE! not move no NO!!_

He froze, then slowly retracted his wing.

_good bird-thing. help good bird-thing. not move. not noise._

"Who arrre you?"

_not noise bird-thing. good bird-thing. bird-thing want eat? good bird-thing not hurt/fear/strike. not move. eat good water/slip/bright/good eat bring?_

"Yess. I am hungrrry."

_not noise bird-thing. in head. not noise._

In head? Was the voice mind-speaking him? Ordigan was dazed. He was no mindspeaker. Was the voice able to hear his thoughts like a kyree, then, he wondered. It doesn't sound like a kyree...

_not fur-thing_

Startled at receiving an answer, Ordigan tried thinking at the voice. _*Who are you? Where are we? Why should I not move? What danger are we in? Whe...*_

_too much. bird-thing eat? eat water/bright/slip/good? not hurt/fear/strike again?_

??Again? Ordigan did not even know what the voice was. When had he struck at it?

_before. talk bird-thing. bird-thing hurt/fear/strike. fear/pain/bad. good bird-thing not good._

_*I am sorry. I will not seek to harm you. I am hungry. What is water/slip/bright/good?*_

_bring now. good_

From the corner of his vision, Ordigan caught the first hint of movement as the voice came toward him. About the size of a young hertasi, with smooth, wet-looking skin of pale green came a creature the likes of which he had never before seen. Whether the slow pace at which it approached was more out of caution or from the burden it bore, he could not tell. It became obvious that this was a Changechild; a creature born of the magic storms that had ravaged the world. A water dweller by its looks, with leaves on its head. Ordigan was immediately wary. Too many of the magic-born were dangerous; any Change-beast was to be treated with caution. That this one appeared to have been part plant in no way lessened the potential danger. He did not truly think this one was a danger, as friendly and concerned as it seemed to be for his welfare, but caution was a healthy habit, and not lightly set aside. As the diminutive creature approached, he could smell fish. It stopped in front of him, wide green eyes wary. The leaves on its head proved to be part basket, part sunshade. Whether any were also growing from its head, he did not have the opportunity to find out. The basket held three fish about the length of a gryphon's claws. A small snack by his standards, but a hefty load for ...

_*Who are you? What are you?*_

_me? me.......me. water/plant/climb/eat... me_

_*May I call you Mimi, then?*_

_why call? me, me. not need call._

_*...Mimi. Where are we?*_

_??? good here. not bad here. bad here there. not go there. water/cold/hot/hurt there. water/slip/dark/bad there._

_*We are in a good place? And a bad place is... over there, somewhere?*_

_yes. here good here. bad here there._

Ordigan was beginning to piece together this creature's way of speaking. It could apparently grasp broad concepts, though its vocabulary seemed limited.

_*Sooo... the water is... poisoned? There? And bad... fish?*_

_not drink water. other water. bright/dark water. hot/cold/hurt/change water. drink water move. here to here to other here. not drink water not move. bad here only._

_*Stagnant water? And something in the water is dangerous? Are we in danger now?*_

_not water. other water. help/kind/good go bad here, hurt/fear/bad come. bad not come good here. good here help. no hurt/fear. bird-thing more water/slip/good eat?_

_*Yes, please. More fish would be nice. You can tell me more when you return.*  
_

Mimi slipped off, quickly leaving his field of vision. Ordigan pondered their conversation, dozing as best he could with one wing pinned awkwardly beneath him. Why was he not allowed to move? From Mimi's reaction, there was something to fear. And the pain he'd experienced when he first moved certainly should not be discounted. He was injured. Perhaps Mimi could help him move safely, at least enough to free his wing. If "good here" meant this was a safe place, he should probably stay until fully recovered, if possible. And that meant cooperating to keep this place safe. 

And so thinking, he finally fell asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Mercedes Lackey owns Velgarth and all rights thereunto. I merely visit her world to play. ^_^


End file.
